Savagery & Skills: Books 1-4

by Ciara Graves

  “Why don’t you be a good vampire and let me find you. Then we can see,” I whispered viciously. “Pretty sure you won’t like the result.”

  Macron is wrong by the way. About your power.

  “And why would I listen to you?”

  As I’ve told you before, I’ve never lied to you. And I trust you with your power, with or without rings. All the rings do is put a leash on what you could accomplish.

  Rudarius didn’t want me to get rings, huh? That made me want to get them even more now. The tone of his voice was shaky as if he was truly worried about what I could do once I had them on my hand. They were meant to hone and enhance my power, guide it.

  Would they really leash it, too?

  No, that wasn’t the point of the rings. Even as I told myself this, crossing my arms firmly over my chest and shutting my eyes to try and get some rest, an annoyed voice hissed in the back of my mind. Control, that’s all Macron wanted. I wasn’t trusted to control my power without the rings because he feared what I would do. Or could do.

  He wants to use you as a weapon against me, nothing more.

  “Right, and you didn’t want to use me?” I snapped. “Why am I even talking to you? Just go away?”

  I never wanted to cage your abilities. You are powerful, Seneca, you don’t even understand that yet. You are the last living fae of the Sa’ren. All their power, their legacy, it lives inside of you, flows through you. You don’t simply draw from a place. You draw from a people driven to extinction out of jealousy and hate.

  “And turned into a monster, thanks to you.”

  Not a monster, he argued vehemently. A queen in your own right. A goddess among her kind.

  “I have no desire to be looked at in that way. All I want is to see you dead.”

  You’d be a fool to kill me.

  The fog around me swirled in closer, shimmering in and out of focus, as he made to drag me back to that damned room. I dug my nails into my arms, drawing blood as I forced myself to remain firmly in reality. The room that had become our room, mine and Rudarius’s, flickered in and out of view. I held strong and dug my nails in deeper, grunting from the pain. But I was done playing his game.

  Oh no, my pet, you are not getting away from me that easily.

  A sickening tug almost had me puking, and then I was in that damned room looking Rudarius in the face. “Bastard,” I muttered, holding a hand to my gut as the room spun around me.

  “I did not plant those thoughts in your mind. Draven and Macron do not trust you. They never will.”

  “Because of you.” I shoved him hard in the chest, but he didn’t even budge. “You’re the one that filled me with your blood. You’re the one that tainted me.” I shoved harder, but all he did was take my anger as he looked down at me. “I hate you, you hear me? I hate you. I hate everything about you.” I shoved him again and again then punched him, but it was like my blows weren’t even making contact. He merely stood there, blinking as I ranted and beat at him until there was no strength left in my arms and I sagged forward. “Just take it back,” I whispered as the fear I hid away from everyone overflowed. Fear and despair over what I was turning into. “Take it back, you hear me? I didn’t want this. I didn’t want any of it.”

  His arms wrapped around me in an embrace. He held me and as much as I screamed at myself to push away from him, I couldn’t. “I did not turn you into a Sa’ren fae, Seneca. Fate did that.”

  “You turned me into a freak,” I whispered against his chest. “You stole away my life.”

  “No, I turned you into so much more.”

  “You can’t care for me.” An act, that’s all this was. He didn’t want me for anything other than the power residing in my body. I could die tomorrow, and all he’d mourn was the loss of what he could have used me for.

  He gripped my shoulders hard, then set me back. The anger in his eyes was different from what I was accustomed to seeing and my lips parted in shock.

  “That is not true. There is something I must show you. Perhaps then you will see that I am the only one you can trust. The only one truly on your side.”

  There was nothing he could show me to make me believe anything that came out of his mouth. Suddenly, the room disappeared, and I stood atop a stone wall. The wind whipped through my hair, and I staggered into the wooden railing. Rudarius was at my side, taking in the view.

  “Where are we?”

  “This is what we can have if you stand by my side, Seneca. Our dominion. The world you can help me shape and claim.” A smile curled his lips. “Our world.”

  Below the wall were lines upon lines of soldiers readying for battle. A flag blowing in the breeze caught my eye, and I frowned when I saw it. The sigils, one of them was for Rudarius’s coven, and the other… the other was one I’d never seen before, but it was familiar all the same. A blood-red crescent moon with three stars around it.

  “You and I are destined for greatness,” he whispered in my ear, his hands resting on my shoulders then sliding down my arms. I found myself leaning back into him without even thinking about it. “We are the strongest, and we are meant to rule, together.”

  “No, no this can’t be right.”

  “But it is. This is another possible future, one where no one orders you around. One where your power is unbound and free.” He held up my hand as he spoke and the shadows everyone else feared flowed down my arm and circled us both. “Think of all you could do if you were with me. No limits, no rules. No good or evil. Just power.”

  The feel of so much was intoxicating. To not be hindered by worries of anyone’s expectations, of being told what I could or could not do was appealing. Why would I not want this?

  Rudarius stepped away from me, and a burst of warmth at my back had me glancing over my shoulder.

  I froze.

  “Wings?”

  I flexed and the wings made of shadows—nothing like the wings I had before—spread wide.

  “Far better than what you were born with,” Rudarius commented, watching me with a look of awe. “You are meant to be by my side, Seneca. You are meant to be here. To rule. To be a fiery, passionate queen. This is the life I want for you.”

  Uneasiness settled in my chest, and I rubbed at it. Draven, I had to hold onto him. I blinked furiously, and the wings disappeared.

  “No,” I whispered, shaking my head. “No, I can’t want this.”

  “Why not?”

  I tried to say his name, but it wouldn’t come out. I choked and gagged as my power pulsed darker and stronger, all around me. If I accepted this life, I’d be condemning Draven and everyone I knew to death and torment. I couldn’t do that. I was not the villain. I couldn’t be.

  Then again, to truly be free, to not have a care in the world about saving those who hadn’t even cared enough to save me. Or to keep me safe. Those who betrayed me in the end.

  I rubbed the place where Draven had tried to kill me in my nightmare. I’d seen him do it in the future Briar had shown me. Rudarius’s hand found mine again, and he raised it, moving it with the shadows as they took form into different beasts, waiting for their orders atop the wall.

  “There is so much you have yet to discover about yourself,” he murmured. “Let me show you, Seneca. Let me be the one to guide you.”

  A sliver of rage slipped through the illusion, and I whirled around, grabbing hold of Rudarius by the throat. The fortress and surrounding land fell away, and we were back in our room. He made no move to shove me off, and I squeezed harder for a second when my hand fell away. Gently he tucked my wild hair behind my ears and smiled.

  “You will see I’m right,” he promised. “You will.”

  Then the room faded, and I was back in the fog with Macron. What brought me back? I was anxious to keep speaking with Rudarius. Had he sent me here? I hissed in frustration as I remembered the vision he showed me. Was that really what I wanted deep down? My true desire? A very big part of me said yes, but another screamed and ranted that it was all a lie
. What about Draven? How could I betray him like that? If that future were to come true, he would have to be dead which would mean I’d have been the one who killed him.

  My gut rebelled, and I threw myself to the side, dry heaving violently. Tremors started in my legs and arms.

  Macron whispered my name, then he was by my side. “The poison, it’s come back.”

  It wasn’t just the poison, but I couldn’t stop heaving enough to get the words out to tell him.

  Don’t tell him anything, a voice hissed, sounding like me, but not, all at the same time. Don’t. He will lock us up. He already doesn’t trust us. Keep it quiet.

  “Seneca,” Macron said quietly when I finally managed to stop. “We have to move.”

  “Give me a minute.”

  “I can’t.”

  I glared at him until I noticed the hulking shadow breaking away from the trees behind him. “More of them.”

  His eyes were glued to something behind me. His nod was subtle. “Two of them behind you.”

  My eyes were fixed on the moving shadows that were morphing into more and more the longer I looked. “Four more behind you.” I was too weak to take them all on. Shadows seeped from my palms, but Macron pinched me hard on the arm, and they reeled back. “What are you doing? It’s the only way to get us out of this.”

  “I will draw their attention, and you are going to run.”

  “I’m not leaving you behind—Macron!”

  One of the beasts lunged forward and snatched him by the ankle.

  Macron yelled as the beast shook him hard, flinging him around like a doll.

  I threw myself forward to grab hold of his hand, but his fingers slipped through mine.

  The ground shook as two more—fur matted and covered in dried blood—charged me down, tackling me to the ground. Their mouths yawned open, and horribly, human-like screams issued out. Their breath was rank, and I was grateful I’d already thrown up. Otherwise I would’ve again.

  I grabbed hold of one’s snout as it came in to bite my throat. As I wrenched its jaw open wider, bellowing with the effort, another one bit into my shoulder. My scream turned hoarse, and I yanked the jaw as hard as I could.

  The beast shrieked then collapsed atop me, pinning me down.

  Macron yelled my name, but I was trapped.

  So much for Rudarius’s grand vision of our ruling together. I shut my eyes, gritting my teeth against the pain as the beast gnawed on my shoulder, and power rose within me.

  “Seneca, don’t!”

  “Sorry, old man,” I whispered as shadows burst forth from my center and through the dead beast on top of me. Its body flew back, taking down dead trees as it went.

  I squeezed my hand and the shadows morphed into a massive fist that slammed into the other beast that was in the process of attempting to remove my arm. It snarled, letting go, but I was too weak to keep up the attack, and the shadows vanished almost as soon as they came.

  The beast snorted, annoyed, then closed in again.

  My vision darkened. Draven. Maybe it was for the best. My dying now meant he’d be safe from me. I waited for the end to come, but the beast suddenly backed away then fled into the fog.

  The others growled and rushed to follow the other. When they were gone, I rolled over, searching for Macron. He was a couple yards away, breathing hard, but not moving.

  “Macron.” I crawled toward him over the hard stones. “Macron, answer me you arrogant, old bastard.”

  Sticks cracked behind me.

  I froze. Something much larger must’ve scared off the beasts.

  With no strength left, all I could do was roll back over and frown.

  “What?”

  “Sleep, Seneca,” a soothing voice said as a masked face of red and black came into view. A cool hand touched my forehead and my eyes closed. “Sleep.”

  Chapter 11

  Seneca

  I tugged the heavy, plaid blanket higher up my shoulders, watching the stars peek out, one after the other through the branches of the old oak tree. The orbs floating around the garden were various shades of blue and green, calming to watch, almost like waves against the beach. Or so I guessed. I’d never actually been to the ocean.

  “What’s with the frown?” Draven asked as he walked through the backyard to join me.

  I shifted over on the bench so he could sit down. He pulled me onto his lap and wrapped his arms around me, holding me close. “I want to go on a vacation.”

  “Vacation, huh?” he asked with a grin. “To where exactly?”

  “The ocean. Never seen it.”

  “Never?”

  “Nope. Can we go, please? I mean, I know we’ll have to see it at night, but sunsets over the water are supposed to be beautiful, right? Come on. You know it’d be fun.”

  “We could use the break.”

  I traced the old scar along his jaw until he caught my hand and kissed each fingertip in turn. “Yeah, we could. Is that a yes, then?”

  “You think I can say no to you?”

  I wrapped an arm around his neck as we both laughed. When he kissed me, he crushed me to him as if afraid I’d suddenly disappear from his arm.

  All I wanted was to stay where we were for as long as possible, getting lost in each other. The blanket fell away, and his lips trailed along my jaw to my neck. His fangs barely touched my skin, and I shifted around on his lap, my insides twisting with hunger for this vampire. My vampire.

  I blinked, and I stood in the middle of the yard. And at the same time, I remained on that bench with Draven.

  “As much as you seem to be enjoying this dream, I have much to show you.”

  I spun around to find a masked figure standing in front of me. Her cloak was crimson, and her mask was black and red, with the same sigil I’d seen in Rudarius’s vision. It had to be for the Sa’ren. Her eyes were visible, dark grey eyes that said she was no threat to me. I’d seen her before, but where? I’d been with Macron and those beasts, they attacked us again. That mask, I saw it. Then someone put me to sleep.

  “Who are you?”

  “Someone who has waited a very long time for you. Come,” she said and held out a very pale hand, “we haven’t much time.”

  I glanced longingly over my shoulder, but the bench was empty now. I sighed. I’d return to Draven eventually.

  Why would you want to?

  My hand was almost to the woman’s when I stopped short. Flashes of the world Rudarius showed me made me take a step back, but the woman called my name sternly, and I shook my head. This time, I placed my hand in hers without hesitation, and we were gone.

  When my feet hit the ground again, we stood atop a crumbling wall. A battle raged on all around us as a full moon shone over the blood-soaked and body-littered fields. No, not the moon. That was the sun, but the sky was darkened, and its light seemed to come through a filter of some kind.

  “Where are we? Is this Otherworld?”

  “It is. But do not worry, this is not the future. This is the past, one that has been forgotten. It’s time it was remembered.” She strode further down the wall, and I followed. “This is the final battle between the So’run and the Sa’ren.”

  I leaned against the wall, unable to look away as the two fae armies fought. Flashes of red and white erupted all around. Screams permeated the air of the dead and dying.

  “The Sa’ren lost.”

  “We did,” the woman replied darkly. “We were betrayed by our other half. By our brethren.”

  We. She was one of them? Like me? “Why did they turn on you?”

  “They became convinced we were plotting to take over their lands. That we were unhappy with what we currently ruled over. That we were evil. It was all lies. They had become frightened of us, of the darkness. What was once an understood balance became a threat to their existence.”

  A large explosion in the center of the battlefield made me jump, and all the fighting came to a sudden halt. Two male fae faced each other down. One wore white armor
and the other black and grey. They held two swords each. The Sa’ren man’s was made of onyx.

  “Aven Blackroot, our king, stood against the man who started the war. King Lark of the So’run.”

  The two men fought hard, equally matched in skill and strength. But they weren’t what drew my gaze. The masked woman’s eyes never left Aven, not once. Tears burned in her eyes, slipping out of sight behind her mask.

  “You loved him,” I murmured as Aven disarmed Lark of both blades.

  “I did,” she replied. “And I watched them kill him.”

  From the looks of it, Aven was going to win the duel, but then Lark shouted, and the rest of his army closed in, taking advantage of the distraction. Aven fought, but he was surrounded, and those who rushed in to aid their king were cut down without mercy.

  Lark ran Aven through, plunged his sword through the other king’s back. A scream resounded across the battlefield, and a woman with vibrant red hair rushed out onto the field, shouting and cursing Lark. I didn’t have to ask to know it was the woman who stood beside me.

  “Why are you showing me this?”

  “You must understand your history if you are to claim your destiny, Seneca, and as much as I would like to spend months giving you a history lesson, we are very short on time. As it is, I have to show you through dreams. For when you wake, the true work begins.”

  She was off again, and with one last look at the depressing battlefield, I hurried to catch up.

  “Our kingdom was banished to a shadowy realm where monsters reside. The So’run told us it was befitting our true nature. They sent us there to rot, never to know the light of the moon on our skin again or feel the warmth of the sun they claimed we despised.” She whirled around suddenly, and I almost ran into her. “We are fae, all of us. That is what matters in the end.”

  “The fae kingdoms have fallen,” I told her.

  “I know. It’s why you’ve come. The rings. They’ve all been destroyed, yes?”

  “Yeah, but they didn’t work for me anyway. They almost killed me.”

  “Those were not meant for you. It is time you forged your own. They were blind fools back then to believe we were evil, when there was something much worse waiting on the horizon.”